The Crusade Wars were holy quests to gain the Holy Land, Jerusalem. It is recognized as a series of religiously sanctioned military crusade wars in Europe. Christianity was the dominant religion of power and wealth. Pope Urban II, initiated the first crusade by responding to a request from the Emperor of Constantinople for military help. Those who took to the crusade would be released of their debts and paying taxes. However, to be more decisive, if they were to join in on the crusade war and take to the cross, the Pope announced their sins would be forgiven. Subsequently, this is why in the first crusade they wore a cross, because they thought they were fighting for Jesus Christ. The first crusade war took place in the eleventh century and originally the aim was to take Jerusalem from the Muslim control. Over the centuries many crusade wars were fought and resulted in loss of life’s, cities, towns and the fall of the Roman empire. Religious feelings were the principal cause of the great crusade wars, driving religious compliance for the Christians to fight regaining the Holy Land for the Catholic Church. The Crusades Motivated Were Primarily by Religious Factors …show more content…
Though, the crusades were an important part of the Medieval European history. The role of religion played a leading factor in the crusade wars, specifically using Christianity and the citizens of Europe. For almost 200 years during the Middle Ages, Christian Crusades wrested control of the Palestine region from the Selçuk Turks through a series of military incursions made up of Christian armies largely from Western Europe. It was during these 200 years that up to nine crusade wars were fought. Christians fought the crusade wars not because of material rewards they would receive, but because the Church would exonerate their sins in exchange for fulfilling their pledge to the crusade or die
All things considered, it is evident that the Pope set the Crusades in motion more so to bring his country's people together than to fulfill any religious or economic agenda. After all, it is every leader’s responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of his or her people before pursuing outside opportunities, and Pope Urban II was no
In that time there was a struggle between the Catholics, Jews, and Muslims over Jerusalem, the birth place of their religions. The crusades started to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims. But in the long-term effect of the crusades it increased the unwillingness to follow religion. Because of a lack of unwillingness, it fueled the fighting that went on during and
However, there is more support for the fact that these wars were driven by desire for political and economic gain in the long run. The religious parts were just to trick those who believed so strongly in their faith to fight so the large surviving army could bring back wealth and to impact the Silk Road trade in their favor. A document from a Christian Monk who had participated in the Crusade talks about people’s motivations to join the Crusades, stating, “for they bore the sign of the cross on their garments as a reminder that they should mortify the flesh and in the hope that they would in this way triumph over the enemies of the cross of Christ…” This line from the text shows how dedicated they were to fight against “Christ’s enemies”, which were the Jews and the Muslims, and how much they desired to claim the town of Jerusalem. Now, that was the original reason for those people to head out and serve.
The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages, spanning over 200 years, that began in 1095 and lasted until the fall of Tripoli in 1291. The Crusades started as a direct result of Pope Urban ii's speech at Clermont in 1095, where, due to his religiously based outlook on life, he characterized Muslims as violent and immoral and depicted the Crusaders as righteous defenders of Christianity. Pope Urban ii's speech perfectly represents the European's attitude towards the Muslim groups they were attacking; however, these attitudes were modified to fit various other ethnic groups, such as Jewish and Eastern Christians. The Crusaders associated many Jewish groups with negative aspects such as
Going back to the actions of Pope Urban II guaranteeing entry into heaven for those who joined the crusades, the crusaders were able to attack innocent people for their own needs such as wealth and personal glory. As mentioned before, while the first crusade was mostly motivated by religion, the following seven crusades had some other basis for the suffering of thousands of innocent people. Solomon Bar Simson again writes “[they] destroyed the houses, looting and plundering; and they took the Torah Scroll, trampled it in the mud, and tore and burned it…” (Solomon Bar Simson). The key words within that quotation are “looting and plundering”, both of which represent the fact that there were other motives for the crusades outside of just reclaiming the city of Jerusalem.
He knew how to persuade people, so that they believed that he was right. That is why morale was a strong weapon of Christians, which was very useful to achieve their goal. Interestingly some historians like John Ward said that the First Crusade and following campaigns is a “movement of violent white supremacist colonialism”. According to this view, Christians look as expansionist aggressors, while Muslims are victims. But there are also opposite views, which state that movement to Holy lands is a defensive action to protect Christians from irreligious
The Crusades were caused primarily by religious devotion for the remission of sins, loyalty to the pope, and the earning back of the Holy Land for God. When Pope Urban II offered remission of sins to those who fought in the Crusades, many were quick to sign up to ensure an eternal life in heaven with God. People of this time were scared of not being able to get into heaven because of the sins they might have committed. Remission
Pope Urban II’s speech at Clermont in 1095 was a call to crusade given outdoors to the nobles, commoners and church leaders of the Western European Christians (the Franks). The people were moved by this speech and it changed history, launching the first crusade to capture Jerusalem from the Muslim Turks. After hearing Pope Urban II’s speech, thousands of Western European Christians were moved to embark on the dangerous journey and fight in the crusade. I believe the main reasons they were moved and persuaded to fight was; 1) they felt it was their Christian duty, 2) Pope Urban promised them absolution for their sins and 3) they felt compelled to defend Christianity, their holy land and the Eastern Christians.
The Crusades were various religious wars amongst Christians and Muslims. It all started as a means to control and secure the holy lands that were spiritual to both. Between 1096 and 1291, eight main crusades occurred. During those years, the Crusades were known for being ruthless and violent during fights hence making them brutal opponents during the war. There were various goals of the crusaders.
The coins were worth too much, so the Carolingian silver penny was imitated and produced. The restart of Mediterranean trade made the gold coin to be possible and abundant again. 35) Crusades reflected the important of Christianity in Western Europe because it was a series of religiously inspired Christian military campaigns that were against Muslims. The Crusades limited fighting between the Christians during times of truce like Lent, which showed how the Christians valued their religion and were willing to protect their religion from violence or disagreements with other religions. 36)
The crusades happened because of many reasons. First the Turks took over the holy lands. Then the Byzantine Emperor wanted to regain the holy land, so he called for the church 's help. Pope Urban II didn 't want to look weak, so he arranged for the first crusade. That is the cause of the crusades.
The Crusades were successful failures because they did not meet many of their goals, but left lasting effects. The Crusades was an attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to regain the Holy Lands from the Muslims. They believed they were fighting for god and all sins would be forgiven and defend the Byzantine Empire from the Turks. The first Crusade (1096 -1099) was successful for the Christians because they had a clear and organized religious based purpose. Crusaders the Christian armies were able to hold Jerusalem and in the process led to a massacre of Jews.
The crusades were a series of small wars that occurred from the 11th to the 13th century, that had a huge impact on the European society. The crusades first started when Pope Urban the Second gave out his speech about taking back the holy land. The crusades were not only to go out and kill but to also gather ideas through out the way and raid towns when passing through. The crusaders let other people have better opportunity to see the world and the cultures of the East. When the crusades happened it was a bloody massacre and the crusaders put many people’s lives into danger and fear.
The Christian View vs. The Muslim View of the Crusades The crusades were a set of different military actions that were sanctioned by the Catholic Church and the papacy. Their intention was to recapture Holy Lands they believed were rightfully theirs from the Muslim people that had invaded it. As any attack on a large group of people would do, every major group was affected. The Christians had their own reasons and beliefs for going on these Crusades.
The Crusades were expeditions done by the Roman Catholic Church in alliance with Middle-Age Kingdoms and Empires. There were a total of nine Crusades during the period of 1095 to 1291, led by Saladin, Richard I "the Lionheart" of England, Pope Urban II, Frederick I the Holy Roman Emperor, etc. At first, the Crusades were a way to fight back the Muslims for their conquest of Jerusalem. The idea of the Crusade was a very good marketing strategy by Pope Urban II. It was told that any Crusader would be rewarded a place in heaven, and forgiven their sins.